Adolphus Busch (10 July 1839 – 10 October 1913[citation needed]) was the German-born co-founder of Anheuser-Busch with his father-in-law, Eberhard Anheuser.

Busch and his brothers all received quality education, and he graduated from the Collegiate Institute of Belgium in Brussels.

[2] In 1857, at the age of 18, Busch emigrated with three of his older brothers to St. Louis, Missouri[2] which was a major destination for German immigrants in the nineteenth century.

Busch partnered with Ernst Battenberg in St. Louis to found the first of his businesses, a brewing supply company that sold to the three dozen breweries in the city.

[3] Returning to St. Louis after the Civil War, Busch entered his wife's family's brewery business.

[3] At the death of Eberhard Anheuser in 1880, Busch became president of the business, and became wealthy due to the success of the brewery.

His work was distinguished by his "timely adoption of important scientific and technological innovations, an expansive sales strategy geared largely toward external domestic and international population centers, and a pioneering integrated marketing plan that focused on a single core brand, Budweiser, making it the most successful nationally-distributed beer of the pre-Prohibition era.

"[4] To build Budweiser as a national beer, Busch created a network of rail-side ice-houses and launched the industry's first fleet of refrigerated freight cars.

In addition to pasteurization and refrigeration, Busch was an early adopter of vertical integration, or buying all components of a business.

[citation needed] He bought bottling factories, ice-manufacturing plants, stave makers, timberland, coal mines, and a refrigeration company.

[2] Like other business leaders, he served as a director of the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, contributing to civic efforts.

[12] Busch invested in new buildings and businesses in Dallas, Texas, which was growing rapidly in the early 20th century as an industrial city.

With a lifelong interest in his homeland, he assisted in repairing devastation from the 1882 flooding of Mainz-Kastel by the Rhine River.

Almost thirty thousand people paid their respects to Adolphus Busch when his body lay in state in the family mansion in St. Louis.

Five minutes of silence were observed at the request of Mayor Henry W. Kiel and the lights were turned off at the Jefferson and Planter's House hotels.

[3] Lilly Anheuser's parents had built a mausoleum at Bellefontaine Cemetery, but she felt that Adolphus needed something grander.

It features grapevines representing both Adolphus' birthplace in German wine country, and his favorite beverage.